Merv Griffin Dies At Age 82

August 13, 2007|By PHIL ROSENTHAL / Chicago Tribune

This former big-band singer and TV talk show host created the iconic game shows "Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy!" -- leveraging their success into a sprawling business empire that made him a billionaire at his death Sunday at age 82. In the format made famous in "Jeopardy!" -- the question is: Who was Merv Griffin?

Mr. Griffin died of prostate cancer, his company's spokeswoman said Sunday. Less than a month ago, Griffin Group/Merv Griffin Entertainment acknowledged he was being treated at Los Angeles' Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for a recurrence of the condition, discovered during a checkup.

"I'd rather play 'Jeopardy!' than live it," that July 19 statement quoted Mr. Griffin as saying. "I was ready for a vacation; however, this wasn't the destination I had in mind."

Among his many business ventures were film and TV production, including the game show "Crosswords," which is set to have its debut in syndication next month; luxury real estate brokerage and home development; thoroughbred horses and a closed-circuit horse racing network. But the two smash game shows he created and produced made it all possible.

"Jeopardy!," first introduced on NBC in 1964, was based on the suggestion of his wife at the time that, in response to the game-show scandals of the 1950s (in which contestants were illicitly given the answers), it would be fun to have players presented with solutions and try to divine the correct question. "Wheel of Fortune," which began on NBC in 1975, was a reworking of Hangman, a children's game Mr. Griffin and his sister used to play.

The two programs were included in the $250 million sale of Merv Griffin Enterprises in 1986, but the shows (for which he wrote signature music) continued to send him many millions more in royalties. Hits in syndication for 24 years and 23 years, respectively, they are among the two most successful game shows in U.S. history.

Mr. Griffin parlayed the cash into his 1987 purchase and subsequent renovation of the Beverly Hilton (which he sold in 2003), launching a run of transactions, buying and selling more than 20 hotels, resorts, casinos and riverboats. Among his acquisitions was Resorts International in Atlantic City, N.J.

His Emmy-winning talk shows on NBC, CBS and mostly in syndication from 1962 to 1986 made him a household name. He created a clubby atmosphere where an eclectic mix of guests could feel at home, including Rose Kennedy, Sonny and Cher, Ingrid Bergman, Tom Cruise, Jerry Seinfeld, Salvador Dali and Abbie Hoffman.

After President Reagan was shot in 1981, it was longtime pal Mr. Griffin he gave his first on-camera interview.

Mr. Griffin married Julann Wright in 1958, with whom he had a son, Tony. The couple divorced in 1976. *